This Tiny Satellite Could Be Your Own Personal Spacecraft From Just $1,000

4/12/2016

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A typical spacecraft costs about millions, or even
billions of dollars. That’s the cost of a typical spacecraft made by NASA. But what
if you minimize its size to the dimensions of a Matchbox car? That would make
things a lot cheaper, right? That's the idea behind an aspiring new satellite notion
developed by researchers at Arizona State University (ASU). Their small SunCube
platform is what's called a femtosat or femtosatellite, meaning a tremendously
small satellite that weighs less than just 100 grams in total (counting any
mini payload or fuel).

Image Credit: Charlie Leight/ASU Now

On the scale of miniaturized satellites, the
femtosat is as small as it gets – even smaller than microsatellites (10–100
kg), nanosatellites (1–10 kg), and the picosatellites (100 grams to 1 kg). And
those modest extents would make the SunCube not only inexpensive to build, but
also significantly cheaper to launch, theoretically taking individual space
exploration – space exploration! – within grasp of pretty much anybody.

The lead researcher Jekan Thanga, head of the
Space and Terrestrial Robotic Exploration (SpaceTREx) Laboratory at ASU said:

"With a spacecraft this size, any university
can do it, any lab can do it, any hobbyist can do it,"

The SunCube is about just 3 centimetres in each
direction, and because it weighs almost nothing, the launch expenses are astonishingly
approachable. According to Jekan Thanga and his team, it would cost nearly
US$1,000 to propel a SunCube to the International Space Station (ISS) or $3,000
to venture into low-Earth orbit.

Sending one of these SunCube into outer space
would be marginally more affordable at about $27,000, but if matched with
conventional launch costs running at about $60,000-$70,000 per kilogram, it's definitely
achievable.

SunCube project was announced at an ASU event thisweek, and their paper clarifies how the technology could offer a practical
standard for anybody interested in getting individually involved with space
science.

Obviously, these modules does not have much to
offer and can’t get to Pluto any time soon, but they are equipped with a radio,
sensors, cameras, and tiny solar paneling to deliver a nonstop power source,
you've got the ingredients of a spacecraft that might monitor Earth or other
bigger satellites or space stations, or could be even used by students and supporters
to send minute experiments into space.

Thanga said:

"There's a whole community out
there interested in this idea of low-cost, swarms of disposable spacecraft. It's
like your own GoPro in space. That would give you quite the front-seat view in
space. We can show the world we can fly in space," he said. "Being an
active person involved in a space mission – it's the next domain in
exploration."

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